Will the B757 be judged a successful airliner? Of course it will! How many other single-aisle twin-jets do you know that are allowed to fly trans-atlantic routes? What about the fact that Boeing has sold several hundred of them to dozens of airlines?

Just because an aircraft doesn't reach the sales level of a 737 doesn't mean it wasn't successful.

Those who fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it in summer school.

The 757 will be judges as a successful airliner in the history books. Over 1000 have been built and there are countless numbers flying today. Just like the B727, the B757 will continue to serve well into this century. As passenger airlines retire them, they will be picked up by cargo operators, most likely eventually replacing B727s in the future.

As for the fate of the 7E7 being built in Everett? That is a good question. Definately the plant would have room to build it there, it's just a question of what upper management's final decision will be. Will Boeing want to get tax breaks in Washington state to build it there? That's something I keep hearing about. It would seem foolish to build the plane elsewhere when the facility in Everett is available, but who knows.

Not unexpected, but sad anyway.
I remember when I first joined BA and the first 757's had just been delivered, for the first few years of BA operation they were maintained in the same hangar as Concorde, and for a time, many of my now colleagues also held 757 licenses.
Also, the success Rolls Royce had with the 757 kept their civil aviation division going in what would otherwise have been a dangerously lean period of the 1980's for them.
Not forgetting the 757's take off performance!http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3199490.stm

Look for either a narrowbody variant of the 7e7, or the 739x to fill those routes as a replacement. I dont know if Boeing will make the 739x plane capable of crossing the Atlantic, but if Boeing plans on replacing the 757 with 737s (yuck), then that's probably what it'll have to do.

And yes, it pains me to say "737s replace 757s". Ugghhh. And I'd feel the same way about any other plane replacing the 757. It's a beautiful aircraft, and although Boeing normally shuts down a line after 20 years, it still feels like the 757 is far too young to die.

I think of it as a modern craft. But I also felt the same about the 727....until Delta retired their last ones. Only then did I really get the sense that the 727 was an old aircraft. Up until then, I had found it, itself, to be pretty modern as well. They just dont feel old when you see them or fly on them.

Heck, I'm almost as old as the oldest 757...and I dont feel old. But that's not the reason the line is being shut down, anyway.